Transcript How did war propaganda affect America?

Pres. George Bush, Iraq War
Speech, March 13, 2003
- What is your reaction to this
speech?
- What are his goals in making this
speech?
EQ: In what ways can
wartime propaganda affect
public opinion?
Allied propaganda contributed to U.S.
entry into WWI (1917)
The Bryce Report Report of the Committee on Alleged German
Outrages (1915)
“It is proved-• (i) That there were in many parts of Belgium deliberate and
systematically organised massacres of the civil population,
accompanied by many isolated murders and other outrages.
• (ii) That in the conduct of the war generally innocent civilians,
both men and women, were murdered in large numbers, women
violated, and children murdered.
• (iii) That looting, house burning, and the wanton destruction of
property were ordered…by the officers of the German Army…and
that the burnings and destruction were frequent where no
military necessity could be alleged, being indeed part of a system
of general terrorisation.
• (iv) That the rules…of war were frequently broken, particularly by
the using of civilians, including women and children, as a shield
for advancing forces exposed to fire, to a less degree by killing the
wounded and prisoners…”
U.S. propaganda used to
encourage support for…
• Involvement in war effort
• Financing the war
• Expansion of the federal govt
The Committee on Public Information
• George Creel
• Anti-German
propaganda
• Newspapers, film,
radio and posters
• “four-minute men”
Propaganda Questions:
1. What is the message the author is trying to
convey?
2. What technique is used to convince
Americans of this message?
3. How do you think it would affect Americans’
view on the war?
Involvement in war effort - Enlistment
Women’s involvement in war effort
Red Cross
Munitions Work
Financing the war
• $33 billion raised in
2 years
• War bonds (Liberty
bonds) sold
– Buying = symbol
of patriotism
• Taxes
– War Revenue Act
of 1917
Expansion of the federal govt
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•
•
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War Industries Board – Bernard Baruch
Food Admin. – Herbert Hoover
Railway Admin. – William McAdoo
Fuel Admin. – Harry A. Garfield
National War Labor Board – William H. Taft &
Frank P. Walsh
• U.S. Shipping Board
U.S. Food Administration
U.S. Fuel Administration
Effects of wartime propaganda
• What do you think could be positive
effects of these types of propaganda?
• What could be some negative effects?
Hostility toward German-Americans
• Arrests, investigations, internment
• Lynching of Robert Prager
• “liberty cabbage,” “liberty dogs”
Govt Attacks on Civil Liberties
• Espionage Act (1917)
– Illegal to interfere with the
operation or success of the
U.S. military (including
recruiting and enlistment)
• Sedition Act (1918)
– Made illegal “disloyal”
language about the U.S.
government, military or flag
• Cases:
– Schenck v. United States
– Debs v. United States
• Red Scare
– Palmer raids 1919-1920
Discussion Qs:
• TWE were attacks on civil liberties a result of
wartime propaganda?
• Has wartime propaganda today led to abuses
of civil liberties?
– 2001 Patriot Act
– What can be done about this?